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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

top girl's names

41 replies

sandfairy · 29/05/2010 22:53

Hello! Please help me narrow down this list of girl's names. Thanks!

Charlotte
Clara
Eleanor
Eliza
Elizabeth
Helena
Jemima
Josephine
Julia
Kirsten
Lucy
Martha
Nancy
Rosalyn
Serena
Talia

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IsThatTheTime · 31/05/2010 22:52

LuluF - I getcher!
sandfairy - can't tell you my other 2 as I gave them to my DDs and will out meself!
Loving Juliet, Miriam and Lydia though...

LuluF · 31/05/2010 22:50

Emmeline Pankhurst was a Suffragette - she got women the vote in 1928 just before she died - burning bras was later, I think. A good namesake. I've read on a previous post that people would be concerned with the Emmeline/Emily confusion/mis-hearing.

I knew a Larissa once - definitely not Russian in any way - I didn't even associate the name with Russia.

Original poster
sandfairy · 31/05/2010 22:45

LuluF - Clarified!
capstone - You are on my wavelength - many of those almost made the shortlist. I love Larissa but got the impression that many people think you need to be Russian to use it.
How do you properly pronounce Corinne? With the accent on the 'Co' or the 'inne'?

Also, Emmeline...I like it but don't think I know how to pronounce it properly - 'lin' or 'line'? ...isn't it associated with the burning of bras?

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LuluF · 31/05/2010 22:40

And the other thing I meant to say - is that we have a Nancy. We'd picked her name before she was born. She didn't look like a Nancy when she was born. Not really sure what she looked like - but at 3 and a half, she really is a Nancy now.

LuluF · 31/05/2010 22:38

I probably confused things - sorry. Louisa in this country is pronounced like Louise but with an 'a' on the end (just like you think it should be). Some (not many, thankfully) people pronounce it like Lou-isa (like the 'isa' sound in Lisa)? does that make sense? like an 's' not a 'z'.

Probably even more confusing now.

capstone · 31/05/2010 22:34

Here are a few ideas just in case you like any of them.

Juliet
Miriam
Emmeline
Larissa
Alice
Sarah
Anna
Marianne
Laura
Corinne
Lydia

Original poster
sandfairy · 31/05/2010 22:32

Thanks for the ideas. I really love Thea but my sister has a Theo, Frances doesn't go with surname, not totally sure about Saskia and Sylvie. Rosalie would be a good alternative for Rosalyn...perhaps prettier but does it sound like a fortune-telling gypsy?

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Imarriedafrog · 31/05/2010 22:18

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Original poster
sandfairy · 31/05/2010 22:14

IsThatTheTime - Can you remember what others you had on your list? I still don't think that I've found THE ONE! I'm having trouble understanding the Louisa pronunciation too... is it the difference between the 'eas' sound in 'easy' and the 'eas' sound in 'Easter'? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?
I was actually lying in bed last night thinking about the 'Wheezy' nn...

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IsThatTheTime · 31/05/2010 21:23

Most of these were on my list so can't help you except to say I think you have excellent taste!
(I'm not understanding the Louisa pronunciation thing [thicko emoticon] but I do know of a Louisa who is always nicknamed Wheezy, which I think is slightly unfortunate)

capstone · 31/05/2010 21:16

Lovely list The only ones I don't like are Nancy and Martha.

Imarriedafrog · 31/05/2010 21:09

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Original poster
sandfairy · 31/05/2010 21:01

None of the names get a unanimous vote, but that's probably to be expected! I'll see if I get a few more replies then work out the most popular three or four....then wait 'til she arrives and see what she looks like - due tomorrow! She'll probably look like a 'Yoda' ... which won't be terribly helpful!!

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CharlotteYorkGoldenblatt · 31/05/2010 15:31

I like Charlotte, Jemima and Serena the best, but they're all actually lovely - what a great list! Good luck choosing!

LuluF · 31/05/2010 09:08

My name's Louisa. Pronounced Louise-a. That is how it's pronounced in the UK. One of my pet hates (apart from being mistakenly called Louise - which happens a lot) is it being pronounced with the soft S as previous poster prefers. It makes me wince - unless the person calling me it is Italian of Spanish, as it's pronounced like that in Spain and Italy.

plonker · 31/05/2010 01:23

Going off your second list ...

Clara - pretty
Eliza - lovely
Elizabeth - my favourite girls name ever
Helena - s'ok
Jemima - I can only think puddleduck. Sorry.
Julia - beautiful and very under-used
Lucy - gorgeous! My second favourite. All Lucy's are beautiful souls (I have one )
Louisa - would you pn it as Louise-a or Loui-ss-a (soft 's' sound). I like the soft sound but am not as keen on the harder sounding Louise-a. If that makes any sense at all ...

I would say Helen-a. This is probably my least favourite of your choices.

Good luck - you have great taste in names

LuluF · 30/05/2010 23:26

Psammead - How can Nancy be a 'silly name'? You may not like it - but I don't understand how you can call it or any other name 'silly'?

A1980 · 30/05/2010 23:20

Charlotte - harsh sounding
Clara - It's ok
Eleanor - lovely
Eliza - Lovely
Elizabeth - lovely
Helena - lovely
Jemima - not keen
Josephine - She'll get Jo
Julia - ok
Kirsten - ok
Lucy - not keen
Martha - old granny name
Nancy - Old granny name
Rosalyn - Great
Serena - No
Talia - Ok

schroeder · 30/05/2010 16:04

Lucy is nice Not keen on any of the rest, sorry.

janeite · 30/05/2010 16:02

Hel-ay-na - lovely.

juneybean · 30/05/2010 15:55

Helena, Eliza or Lucy are my favourites.

PollyTechnique · 30/05/2010 15:54

Louisa is absolutely gorgeous!

Love Clara, Eliza and Julia. How about Juliet?

WickedWitchSouthWest · 30/05/2010 15:19

From your list I like:
Clara
Jemima
Martha
Rosalyn
Serena

Louisa is very underused imo and lots of nn potential there too

Original poster
sandfairy · 30/05/2010 15:07

This is really helping! Thank you. I did think that Thalia was the more correct spelling but that she and I would have to explain to people how to pronounce it / spell it all the time. Perhaps I should write it off for that reason. Serena - interesting about the 'demographic' thing - I've never actually met one, it just appealed as ds is really hectic and I was hoping for a calm one!!

I think I'm down to:

Clara
Eliza
Elizabeth
Helena
Jemima (I'm trying to get past the doll and the puddle-duck - and when I do, I LOVE this name!)
Julia
Lucy

Would you say Helen-a or Hel-ay-na? I'm tempted to go for this as classic but not over-used and could have Lena or Nell as nicknames.

Oh, one more:

Louisa - thoughts please.

OP posts:
SambuccaKelly · 30/05/2010 12:38

sorry, Elizabeth.

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